In-game advertising is becoming an increasingly popular approach to increase the reach of advertisers. For the advertisers games provide another media channel that widens the reach. For game developers, games publishers and game distributors it provides a highly lucrative revenue stream. Digital games downloaded for free, featuring trial or demo versions, generate a low conversion rate (the ratio of the number of trials/demos downloaded to the number of purchased full versions). Ad-supported games introduce a supplemental revenue model. Similarly, the price of purchased games can be subsidized by ads.
In-game advertising can operate at a number of different levels. In-game light integration is used to serve advertisements to the game environment in a transition screen during stages such as before the game starts, between game stages, after the game ends and the like. In-game tighter integration presents rotating textures and videos during the game on billboards, buildings etc. Product placements present non-rotating texture during the game on billboards, buildings etc.
The world of digital games reflects a chain of players:
Game Developer—the entity that developed the game code, like an author in the book industry. The game developer has access to the game source code and is the proprietor of the IP rights in the game.
Game Publisher—the entity that publishes the game, like the book publisher in the book industry. This entity may integrate the game with a Digital Rights Management (DRM) wrapper. DRM is a digital component that prevents unauthorized copying of the game, enables the setting of time limits to a downloaded game, and is capable of identifying and reporting on game events.
Game Distributor—the entity that distributes/sells the game (online or offline), like a book store.
Media Seller—the entity that sells the created ad inventory in the game.
US 2006/105841 (Rom et al.) published May 18, 2006 discloses a system for displaying objects within an interactive game program, in which, the objects can be added during the game program creation and afterwards. Additionally, a component within the game program itself updates these objects and communicates with a centralized server that manages and controls the objects through a number of utilities. One embodiment of the invention is a system providing dynamically changing advertisements within interactive video games. Additionally, a centralized server communicates with an internal Ad Engine to update interactive game ads without impeding on the game performance or affect the game play in any unintended way. Furthermore, the invention provides various management suites for interactive game program developers, game program publishers, and advertisers to update and manage the advertising objects within the game program.
US 2006/105841 also suggests creation of ad objects in an interactive game program both at its creation and after publication and release, para. 0055. But it appears neither to suggest nor describe a mechanism that allows for pre-definition of a set of multiple ad policies, determining ad display and frequency, and the corresponding game states and events in which each will be allocated, and for centralized automated on-the-fly allocation and customization of such predefined ad policies to digital games one or more times during the game play, with the ad policies being accessible at the server for revising, and any revisions having immediate effect including on games then-currently played under such revised policy, subject to a predefined server-software agent ad policy updating frequency, as specified below.
US 2004/148221 (Chu) published May 25, 2006 discloses an online game advertising system providing an architecture for enabling the definition, sales, distribution, and management of interactive advertisements, sponsorships, and placements that appear within an online video game as part of the game experience or during idle load, wait, and pause screens. For example, in a race car game, when a driver pulls in for a pit stop, the engine oil brand that the game player may choose may be defined as locations for advertisements or product placements for real life engine oils and game publishers and advertisers may manage what specific advertisements to place in these locations.
US 2006/128471 (Godse et al.) published Jun. 15, 2006 discloses a virtual environment of a video game provided with a set of predetermined objectives, whose completion is monitored and recorded. This information is then provided to a game developer. In addition, comparing the record of the predetermined objectives with current game assets associated with the gamer serves to inhibit authorized duplication of game assets.
US 2006/128469 (Freedman et al.) published Jun. 15, 2006 relates to presentation of an advertisement during a video game session supporting a set of gamers participating in the game from a variety of different locations. The content of the advertisement is chosen based upon specific criteria such as data relating to one of the gamers, for example, the location of the gamer. The chosen content of the advertisement is provided within an advertising spot of the video game.
EP 1236487 (Aoki) published Sep. 4, 2002 discloses a method for directing a player's attention to a game advertisement so as to generate more game advertisement charges. An amount to be charged for outputting a game advertisement is calculated based on displayed amount information, e.g., information concerning a display time and area, and display quality information, e. g., information concerning a display position on a game screen, presence or absence of clipping with an advertisement image, an advertisement display direction in a vertical 3D space, and so forth.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,601 (Heckel) published Mar. 14, 2000 discloses a method for advertising within the virtual environments of games. Default images of games are replaced by alternative textures having advertisements implemented therein. An ad server coordinates the matching of ads to demographic data of the game player and properly accommodates ads in formats from game information provided by game sources. The game player is visually influenced by advertisements as he or she views the virtual world of the game, as plug-in software replaces the default images with virtual pictures and figures utilizing an advertisement. View statistics are retrieved from the game player's computer or console to rate viewing effectiveness for ad placement confirmation and billing purposes.
US 2004/116183 (Charles) discloses a system and method for digitally inserting advertisements, targeted digital images, indicia and live digital video streams into a networked, a multi-player or on-line video game, using a color mask or a matte technique such as blue screening, within the video game, in order to display the information within the video game. Each video game client has software executing on the video game client, which is connected to a video game network server, and which is capable of displaying images, video, audio and data originating from the network server or from other medium. The video game client is capable of display on a standard television set. Each client comprises a networked interface card (NIC) or modem, a network connection, and software executing on the video game client that can establish a client-to-server network connection. Each client supports video streaming and can receive, and encode and decode video and audio signals, transport, and display that and other data on screen.
The above-referenced publications teach the display of advertisements dynamically during game play as well as the ability to customize advertisements to specific users based on demographic data of the game player, for example. To this extent, techniques taught by some of these references may also be applicable to the present invention and their contents are wholly incorporated herein by reference.
There appears to be no suggestion in the art to allow an advertisement policy to be customized on-the-fly based on feedback received from a game station during play so as to allow for the definition of advertisements' display characteristics during game play, and to further allow on-the-fly re-customizing of another advertisement policy and/or on-the-fly revising of a previously allocated advertisement policy. Further there appears to be no suggestion in the art as to a single generic method enabling display of video-audio synchronized files to be displayed on any environment that is capable of displaying graphical textures, including a 3D environment.